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The Boring Company event sneak peak: venue, tunneling machine, completed watchtower

(Photo: Tom Cross/Teslarati)

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8 years ago

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After months of operating underground, The Boring Company is coming to the surface with the unveiling event of its test tunnel in Hawthorne, CA. The Boring Company is set to livestream Tuesday’s opening party, as Elon Musk presents what could very well be the first step towards a future connected with ultra-high-speed tunnels.

The Boring Company’s tunnel unveiling event is poised to feature a lot of fun,  lighthearted activities, as represented by the multi-story medieval watchtower constructed on the opening party’s venue. The idea of the watchtower came from one of Elon Musk’s playful Twitter sessions, where he announced that the tunneling startup would be building a watchtower on the Los Angeles site, where a person dressed as a knight would be tasked to “yell insults at people in a French accent” to passers-by — a reference to one of the most memorable scenes in the classic comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The Boring Company’s completed watchtower. (Photo: Pauline Acalin/Teslarati)

The watchtower was constructed in a quick and clever manner, with the Boring Co. utilizing a metal framework overlaid with pre-made sections of Boring Bricks. Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin has followed the tower’s construction over the past couple of weeks, and returning to the site on Monday, she was able to capture images of a fully-constructed watchtower, complete with wooden window shutters and more refined brickwork.

Driving by the site on Monday night, Pauline and fellow Teslarati photographer Tom Cross were able to capture more images of the opening party’s venue. Pictures and video taken of the site reveal that The Boring Company is already setting up the lights and the sound system for the event.  Some details of Elon Musk’s completed Monty Python-style watchtower, such as torches on both sides of the structure’s wooden doors, could also be seen. Furthermore, The Boring Company appears to have laid some accent lighting on a tunnel boring machine currently under construction, which is set to be utilized for its high-profile Chicago tunneling project.

The venue for The Boring Company’s opening event on Tuesday, December 18, 2018. (Photo: Tom Cross/Teslarati)

The Boring Company’s test tunnel unveiling event on Tuesday stands as a milestone for the young startup. Elon Musk, for one, noted in a tweet earlier this month that the December 18 product launch will be “more than a tunnel opening.” Seemingly teasing some progress on a garage-elevator concept that the company is building near the SpaceX headquarters, Musk also stated that the event would “include modded but fully road legal autonomous transport cars & ground to tunnel car elevators.” Free test rides would be offered to the public after the tunnel unveiling event as well.

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While The Boring Company is considered more as one of Elon Musk’s more fun hobbies, the startup has been extending its reach nonetheless. The company, for one, beat out more experienced rivals when it was selected to construct a high-speed transport line that would connect downtown Chicago to O’Hare airport. Recent permits from Hawthorne also reveal that The Boring Company is opening The Brick Store, a physical location that will sell Boring Bricks, which could be used for fun projects or low-cost construction and are made from tunneling rock.

Be sure to follow along on Twitter as we take you behind the scenes at The Company unveiling. For now, enjoy this 6-minute footage from Tom and Pauline as they scouted the site of tonight’s opening party.

https://twitter.com/_TomCross_/status/1074869183454691329

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.

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2 hours ago

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August 14, 2026

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has launched a new Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y vehicles in the United States, meaning you can now power devices like laptops or light strings with your vehicle’s battery.

It appears the capability will be available for any Model Y Premium trim, including those that were purchased prior to the Adapter being launched. It will also only impact Juniper Model Y vehicles, so the first-gen owners will unfortunately not have access to this capability.

If your Model Y was purchased before Tesla renamed the trim levels to “Premium” and “Standard,” it does not seem to be compatible. My Model Y is technically a Premium build, as it is the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive. However, Tesla says it is not compatible with my vehicle.

For $80, you can now utilize your car as a portable charger for small appliances or devices. This is perfect for things like tailgates, concerts, or camping, as you can now plug in devices that you might use. Those string lights for camping? That laptop for the other games that are on at the tailgate?

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They’ll both utilize energy from your Tesla’s battery to be powered. This is the first time Tesla has expanded the capability to vehicles outside of the Model Y Performance and Cybertruck. However, this feature has been highly requested by owners for an extended period of time.

Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter in China last year:

Tesla China rolls out Model Y L V2L adapter, and it’s free for early owners

You will need the Mobile Connector to operate the Outlet Adapter: the Outlet Adapter will plug into the main housing of the Mobile Connector, where the appropriate adapter to charge your vehicle will plug in.

It is rated for 120 volts and 20 amps, and has a max power rating of 2.4kW.

You can buy it here from Tesla for $80.

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Tesla Roadster unveiling nears, and it will fly: The Information

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7 hours ago

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August 14, 2026

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(Credit: Dami Kolz/Twitter)

Tesla is nearing its long-awaited unveiling of the all-electric Tesla Roadster, a new report from The Information claims, as the company has said several times this year that the event would take place “soon.”

Now, it appears there is movement on Tesla’s end regarding when it will happen.

The report says that Tesla will unveil the Roadster as soon as this month with a SpaceX version that will utilize cold-gas thrusters to help the vehicle float for a short period of time. This is something CEO Elon Musk has talked about with the Roadster for years.

Additionally, due to the delays, Tesla explored “a variety of designs” for the Roadster, potentially planning to abandon the design it showed off for the first time in 2017 and adopting an entirely new aesthetic.

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According to The Information, Tesla considered utilizing a repurposed Model S Plaid and even wanted to upgrade the look to something like a Lamborghini Countach.

Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again

We’ve heard all of these things before, including teases about the date and how “soon” the Roadster will finally be ready to be shown off to the world (for the second time). Musk said that the event would occur in April, then May, then Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen continued to say it would be coming “soon.”

We do expect to see the Roadster by the end of the year, and now with this new report swirling, it appears it could be sooner rather than later.

The wait has been incredibly long, but there is likely a good reason for it. Tesla’s desire to make the Roadster the craziest vehicle on the road was non-negotiable, and it likely took a lot of time and resources to develop and perfect into something that was safe and suitable for a vehicle like this.

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Tesla finally got its Nevada Robotaxi Permit but with a few catches hard to miss

Nevada granted Tesla’s robotaxi permit, but capped the fleet at just ten vehicles for now.

Published

16 hours ago

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August 13, 2026

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Concept art of a Tesla Cybercab in Las Vegas Strip as rendered via Grok

Tesla has received its robotaxi permit in Nevada, more than two months after regulators closed the public comment period on the company’s application. News of the approval surfaced Wednesday night when Tesla investor and longtime company watcher Sawyer Merritt posted a copy of the interim order, and the Nevada Transportation Authority’s own carrier registry now lists the permit, AVNC Permit 002 under Docket 26-05015, as active for Tesla Robotaxi, LLC.

Tesla asked Nevada in June for authority to run up to 5,000 vehicles in Clark County within a year, however the permit the NTA issued is initially capping Tesla at ten fully autonomous vehicles and confines them to a defined geofence along the Las Vegas Strip corridor. Any expansion of that operating area, or any increase to the fleet size, requires the NTA’s approval first.

The order also sets rules that look more restrictive than what Tesla runs in Austin. Rides are barred on roads with posted speed limits above 45 miles per hour, pickups are off limits within a quarter mile of Harry Reid International Airport without separate authorization, and every vehicle has to carry visible “Robotaxi” markings while notifying riders before each trip that no one is driving. The order also requires “appropriate human supervision”, language that suggests Nevada isn’t ready to let Tesla offer the rides without a safety monitor that it has run in parts of Austin since January. As with standard protocol with robotaxi services, Tesla must report any accident, system failure, or vehicle that becomes stranded on a Nevada road within five business days.

Tesla is entering a market Nevada already knows well. Zoox, the Amazon owned robotaxi company, has run its own autonomous vehicle permit in the state since last year, building up to roughly 100 vehicles and 350,000 rides along the Strip. That history likely explains why the NTA started Tesla at ten cars rather than the fleet size the company asked for. The agency has a template for scaling a permit up once a company proves out its safety record.

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Tesla’s Nevada application first surfaced in June, when the company filed for the permit alongside plans for a maintenance hub in southwest Las Vegas. The company has said it won’t meaningfully scale its robotaxi fleet anywhere until FSD v15 ships, expected in late 2026 or early 2027, which makes the ten vehicle cap less of a constraint today than it might look on paper. For now, Tesla has the legal right to start Nevada rides. Whether it starts before FSD v15 arrives is a separate question the permit doesn’t answer.

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